Stewart topped both timed qualifying practices, with his fastest lap of 52.436 coming midway through the second and final session. He was more than two-tenths of a second quicker than JGRMX’s Justin Brayton and fellow Suzuki rider Broc Tickle.

Inevitably Renault was again in the spotlight at Bahrain this week, although the problems experienced by its four cars were by no means all down to the power unit supplier. After the test the company issued this Q&A with Rob White, Renault F1′s deputy managing director (technical).